Loom



R. G. TURNER.

LOOM.

APPLICATION FILED IIIIIE I2. IsII. BENI-:wan SEPT. 4, I9I9.

1 ,336,545, Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

" Il lI I' Im/eI//I', Richard GreenleafTuM/le R. G. TURNER.

LOOM. APPLICATION FILD JUNE F2, {911} RENEWED SEPT. 4,1919. 1,336,545,Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

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ing the feeding continuous.

1 tures to be essential, the first UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

RICHARD GREENLEAF TURNER, MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

LOOM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Application mea .nine 12, 1917, seran No. 174,233. Renewed september 4,1919; serial No; 321,980.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known. that I, RICHARD GREENLEAF' TURNER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the cityof Malden, in thc count of Middlesexand Commonwealth assachustts, have inventedl certain new and usefulImprovements in Looms, of

which the following is a full, clear, and

exact specification.

)The lobjectfof this invention is the con'- struction of a loom whereinthe weft or filling is not carried 'on a spool yin the shuttle, but isfed continuously from van external supply, whereby the machine vcan bemaintained in uninterrupted action, and a single attendant can lookafter a considerable number of separate looms.

In carrying, y invention into effect, I feed the weft threadverticallyinto-the .mid-width of the shed, passing it through an eyeinthe shuttle to the selvage of the fabric being woven, the shuttlebeing actuated in the customary manner, thus mak- In rendering theprocess of thus feeding the weft commercially practical, I find two mainfeaconsisting in providing the warp with harness frames, each onecontrollingone fraction of the warp threads. Y l

' The second important feature comprises means for lookin the weftthreads at the edges of the growing fabric, and thus forming a selvagethereat.

Another important element consists in the substitution of a comb for theusual reed as the means for beating the weft up to the web, such combbeing necessary inforder to permit the passage of the weft thread fromthe -supply point ,within the. shed lto the shuttle.

Referring to the drawings forming part 'of this specification, Figure 1is a yperspec- Fig. 4 is a plan view of the loom on aA smaller scale,but with the beater comb .removed. Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevationof the same, but showing the beater comb 1n Y""place. Fig.V 6 is asectional elevation of the weft-feeding means. Fig 7 is a side view ofone of the selvage formmg devices.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of parts of the loom showing the selvage formingdevices connected therewith.l

As shown in Fig. 1,.the weftthread 1 1s received from a lsuitablesource, as a spool 2, and delivered to the upper end of a verticaltube.3 at whose lower end is a slender tubular elbow 4. This tube .andelbow are given an oscillation which may be 90, more or less, as bymeans of. a segment 5 and a rack 6, the latter being reciprocatedsynchronously with motion of the shuttle 12, the elbow or arm 4 beingpreferably always pointed toward the shuttle,

even' while the latter is in motion. The

means for such reciprocationI may be 'a bell crank lever 7 pivotallysupported at 9, and connected at its upper end'y with the rack 6, and atits other arm by a link 10 to any suitable moving part of the machine.

At each side of the shed is a shuttle box 11 and a picker stick 13, eachbox having slots 15 to prevent interference with the weft thread 1lpassing through an eye 14 in the shuttle. To deliver the weft thread tothe tube 3 with suicient freedom, I provide a uniformly rotated disk ortable 17 'immediately above the 'level of the tubes' accumulates uponthe surface of the revolving disk or table 17 to be readily given to theshuttle. By having the 'table revolve, the thread descending thereonfrom the feed rolls is laid around in a circle on the table instead ofaccumulating in a mass liable to snarl. l f Theoperation of the loom,aside from the selvage-former hereinafter to be described, is asfollows: V V- The warp threads 21 extending for one half the width ofthe reed are run through the heddles 22 supported by the harness yframe23, as shown in Fig. 1; the warp threads 24 of substantially equal widthare run through the heddles 25 carried 'by the harness frame 26; onehalf of the war threads 27 are run throughheddles 29 carried by theharness frame 30, and the other half of the warp threads 27 are runthrough heddles (not here shown) carried by the harness 317; all thewarp being. drawn over the breast-beam 32 and fastened to the cloth beam33 in the usual manner.

Simultaneously with the blow of a picker 'stick 13, or slightlypreceding it, by which tion.

While the beating is being thus performed, and while the arm 4 is in itsillustrated position, the harness frame's 26 and 31 reverse theirrelative positions to lower the warp 24 and elevate the correspondinghalf of the warp 27. Then the shuttle is thrown to the opposite box; thebeater comb advances and retires; the harness frames 23 and 30 reverse,since the arm 4 had moved with the shuttle; the shuttle and arm return;the beater comb advances and returns; the frame's 26 and 31 reverse, andso the operation continues.

In the drawings, the Warp threads are represented as extending past thearm 4 in perfectly straight lines. As a matter of fact the verticalportion of the tubular arm 4 will temporarily spread the nearest threadsslightly apart in the upper shed, but as soon as theV same threads havedescended to the y lower shed, they come together again and lthreads areliable to raVel out when the fabric is in use, should the process, asthus far described, not be succeeded by some means for formlng a properselvage edge` thereon. The selvage forming means whichl I prefer toemploy is illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, and consists essentially of asinglethread sewing machine adapted to engage the weft thread justoutside the warp just before or while the shuttle is making its retreattherefrom, at both sides of the shed. g

The type of sewing machine used at each side of the forming fabric isillustrated in Fig. 7 where it will be seen that theneedle bar 40, whichis vertically reciprocated in a well known manner, is carried in aswinging frame 41 supported by a main frame 42. The needle bar is osetand carries the needle 43 at the outer extremity of the offset or arm44. Coacting with the needle is a looper 45 suitably turned by means ofbevel gears 4G and 47, and a vertical shaft 49 which serves the addedfunction of a pivotal axis for the swinging frame.

Each swinging frame 41 is provided with an arln 50 against which aspring 51 acts to normally retain the needle 43 just outside theoutermost warp thread at its side; but as the beater comb 34 approachesto press the newly laid weft thread tightly against the fabric, thelingers 52 carried by the beater frame `strike said arms 50 and swingthe needle bars and needles outward where they will not be struck by thecomb. The instant the beater frame recedes, the needles return to theirnormal positions, and the needle, at the `side from which the shuttle isdeparting, at once descends into the weftbend just made, and, with theaid of the looper 53, stitches this weft-bend to those already similarlytreated, the two stitchers operating alternately immediately aftertheshuttle leaves the side of the one operating.

I prefer to provide each stitcher with a plate or table 53, a part ofwhich comes beneath the fabric, and a part beneath but to the youterside of the warp, a suitable opening being formedtherein for thepassageof the needle. I also prefer to form the needle 43 with-a slightterminal bend 55 designed for helping to press the weft thread into thegrowing fabric as the needle descends and stitches it to theprecedingbend.

With all the weft-bends at each edge of the fabric irmlystitchedtogether, the outermost warp threads are held thereby in place and therecan be no unraveling of the cloth.

The depressed edge of each plate or table 53 may rest in a rabbet 54 ofa plate 56 supportedby the shuttle box 11 thereat.

To keep the heddles in proper position on the harness,kI prefer toprovide a reed 35 of well-known type in front of the harness frames butbehind the feed tube 3, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. v

Fig. 3 shows the shuttle 12 to be pentagonal in cross section, with itseye` 14 near its under face in order to insure Aagainst the weftsstriking the comb 34; while its face 36 is made to be parallel with thenormally located edges of the comb-teeth in order to reduce both wearand friction.

With a loom thus constructed, fabrics can be woven at a greatly reducedexpense, especially fabrics such'a's burlaps whose' coarse weft willpermit of but a scanty length thereof being carriedat a time upon theshuttle-spool of the ordinary frame.

With my loom, onthe other hand, each loom can be supplied with a weftthread a mile in length or more, andthe machine can'be run without stop'or attention for hours at a time, enabling a single attendant to looklafter several looms and to give no thought to any until the well-knownbrokenthread alarmadvises him of the break of athread or of the end ofeither warp or weft.

While I have thus far tried my loom only in the production of towelingand like coarser forms of fabrics, I do not restrict myself thereto,although I now consider it the main field of my loom.

y weft thread through said eye to' the fabric -being woven, and a beatercomb reaching through the upper half of the shed only, when at rest.

3. A loom comprising harness frames 'carrying warp threads, a shuttlehaving an eye adapted to be thrown through the shed, and meansvertically entering the shed midway of its width for delivering a weftthread through said eye to the fabric being woven.

4. A loom comprising harness frames carrying warp threads, a'shuttlehaving an eye adapted to be thrown through the shed, and a vertical tubedescending into the shed at a point intermediate of its width throughwhich a weft thread is delivered to said eye and thence to the fabricbeing woven. I

5. A loom comprising harness frames l each carrying warp threads for afraction of its width, a shuttle having an eye adapted' to be thrownthrough the shed, and a vertical tube descending into the shed at anintermediate point, said tube being provided with a Itubular elbow,through whichtube and elbow aweft thread is delivered to said eye andthence to the fabric being woven,

said elbow -being adapted to be oscillated from side to side, two onlyof the harness frames being adapted to 'be reversed at a time, and suchreversal to occur when said elbow has been swung away therefrom,

v 6. A loom comprising four harness frames each carryingwarp threads foronehalf its width, a shuttle having an eye adapted to be thrown throughthe shed, and

a vertical turbe descending into the shed at an intermediate point,:said tube having a rigidly connected member extending horizontallywithin the shed provided with a laterally'elongated eye at its outerend, whereby a weft thread is delivered through said tube and elongatedeye to the eye of the shuttle and thence to the fabric being woven, twoonly of the harness frames being adapted to be reversed at a time andthen only when said horizontal member is swung away therefrom.

7. A loom comprising harness frames carrying warp threads, a shuttlehaving a transverse eye through it at its midlength, means entering theshed at a point intermediate of its' width for delivering a weft threadto said eye and thence to `the fabric being woven, and shuttle boxeseach having slots for the free passage of the portions of the weftthread at the sides of the shuttle.

8. A loom comprising harness frames carrying warp threads, a shuttleadapted to be thrown through the shed, the shuttle having a transverseeye, means entering the shed at a point intern'xediate of its width fordelivering a weft thread through said eye to theV fabric being woven,anduneans for stitching the weft-bends together to form a selvage edge.

9. A loom comprising harness frames carrying warp threads, a shuttleadapted to be thrown through the shed, the shuttle having a transverseeye, means entering the shed at a point intermediate of its width fordelivering a weft thread through said eye to the fabric being woven, anda needle and looper at each edge of the fabric adapted for stitching theweft-bends in place thereat.

10. A loom comprising harness frames carrying warp' threads, a shuttleadapted to be thrown through the shed, the shuttle having a transverseeyefuneans entering the shed at a point intermediate of its width fordelivering a weft thread through said eye tothe fabric being woven, abeater comb,

and a. needle and looper at each edge of the fabric adapted forstitching the weft-bends in. place thereat, and means for moving-.theneedle and shuttle at each edge of the fabric away therefrom as thebeater approaches the same.

1l. A loom comprising harness frames carrying warp threads, a shuttlehaving an eye adapted to be thrown through the shed, means entering theshed at a point intermediate of its width for delivering a weft threadthrough said eye to the fabric being woven, a 'needle andflooper at eachedge of the fabric adapted for stitching the weftbends in place, aswinging frame carrying each needle and-looper, resilient meansnorinvention, I have hereunto set my hand this1 6th day of June, 1917.

t RICHARD GREENLEAF TURNER.

`mally retaining each swlnging frame in i

